Russian opposition leaders on Sunday called for a clear agenda and a grassroots focus on local elections to re-energise a protest movement running out of steam after Vladimir Putin convincingly won a six-year presidential term.
After the crowd at a rally in central Moscow on Saturday fell well short of expectations, activists who have mounted the biggest protests of Putin's 12-year rule said supporters should dig in for a long fight for political change.
"Remember, friends: We are running a marathon," one opposition leader, Ilya Yashin, said in his blog. "Sometimes it's necessary to increase the pace and sometimes to slow down so that you have enough breath to last to the finish."